Among the many things I collect are statues of magicians. The one in the photo is a reproduction of a popular statue. I'm not sure of the originator, nor am I really sure about who did the reproductions. I just know that Bill King told me the way to spot an original versus a reproduction was the shape of the bottom of the hat. The originals had a slightly rounded bottom on the hat, whereas the reproductions have a completely flat bottom to the hat. Otherwise they are identical as far as I know.
Mine arrived unpainted, and truth be told, my first one arrived in about a thousand pieces thanks to U.P.S.. but luck was on my side and I was able to get it replaced. It arrived unfinished in an unpainted state.
I don't have any photos of it in the unpainted stage, but as you can see, I took it upon myself to paint it. I've seen several others and most of those have the magician wearing a black coat. But I wanted to give the statue a unique look so I went for browns and earthier tones.
In his left coat pocket he has a bouquet of flowers and in the right pocket are several silk scarves. There are also two cards sticking out from his vest which are difficult to see in the photo.
I'm not sure who the magician is modeled after, perhaps Charles Bertram. But I think he looks more like the actor John C. Reilly.
By the way, there is one of these statues available on ebay at the moment, though there is only 18hours left on the auction. Act fast!
It will be useful for me and I will buy if you do some custom work and change the face of this statue only a bit and it will look like exactly as my friend. Alert me, if you have statue for oliver b magician.
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